


Gone (Communication Suddenly Cut Off)

by wtf_ellie



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Bad Things Happen Bingo, Communication Cut Off, Drabble, Fantasy, Original Character - Freeform, Original work - Freeform, the covenant that fell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23078065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wtf_ellie/pseuds/wtf_ellie
Summary: Juno decided to take the extra time and travel off the paths most commonly taken. This is both from precaution and a paranoia that she may be followed by the enemy and endanger those she's traveling towards. When exhaustion finally settles, her spirit Dillion, bound to her body and soul, pushes for her to take the time to care for herself. But will the time taken to rest hinder, or help?
Relationships: Juno Edwards & Dillion, Juno Edwards/Rae Mori
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658614
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Gone (Communication Suddenly Cut Off)

Juno tried as best as she could to cover her head as the downpour of rain began. Despite its intensity, Juno decided it would be best if she continued moving. She needed to get to the camp, she was close enough. She’d already been delayed a full day due to traveling off the trail she needed to. The foot traffic had grown too heavy for her to be comfortable. If she was delayed another day, she’d catch hell from a multitude of people. One in particular.

**“You mean Rae. That’s who you’d catch hell from.”** Dillion materialized next to Juno, the rain immediately dampening and flattening her hair. Juno looked over at her with tired eyes. The energy she  _ did  _ have wouldn’t be used for a rebuttal. Although it was comforting to have another person next to her.  **“I know my opinion is not always the best,”** Juno scoffed, her eyes already mid-roll before Dillion could finish.  **“But I believe delaying your travels until the rain ends would be best. You won’t get there any faster if you’re dead.”** Dillion held up her own arm, the clothing soaked through to her skin. Juno ignored her. 

“I’ll be fine.” she stopped moving and glanced up at the sky, darkened by clouds. Maybe Dillion was right, it didn’t look like it’d be letting up anytime soon. Stopping here and now made her realize just how tired she’d become.

**“Are you aware that you’re shivering?”** Dillion added. Juno looked down at herself, now aware of the sensation.  **“Maybe we should stop?”** her voice now edged into concern, as did her expression. Despite Juno wanting to admit it, Dillion knew more than she’d let on. She could feel Juno’s exhaustion, her body’s pains, the scratching of the corruption at the back of her skull extremely present. Juno tried to take another step and found Dillion’s hand on her shoulder.

**“Juno…”**

“Where?” she asked, her voice more and more exhausted with each word. “Unless you want to put up the oilskin?” as the words left Juno’s mouth, Dillion pulled the bag off of Juno’s back and got to work. Before long, Dillion had put the oilskin up and set one down on the ground. She’d also set out Juno’s bedroll. The last of her rations were sitting out, too. Dillion didn’t do things like this often, but when she did it was comforting surprise.

**“Eat and use what little energy you have to call the camp on that crystal you’ve been neglecting.”** with that final remark, Juno was left alone at the camp. She grabbed the crystal that hung around her neck, in disbelief she’d managed to forget about it. It was a new way of communication that was still in the works. But it was better than letters that would arrive shortly after, or before, you did. Juno sat on the bed roll, after she cast a spell to dry her clothes, and placed some bread in her mouth. She anxiously fiddled with the crystal as she chewed and as she thought of the things she’d missed.

Eventually, Juno finished her food, simply staring at that crystal. She was curious to see it work, on her own, without the guidance of Sam or Sorina. Not even Lavinia was there to assist her magically. She felt… a surge of nervousness. What if she reached out and no one answered? Was it because they didn’t know how, or no one was there? She was tempted to just reach the camp on foot and go from there. Being able to see for herself would be better than leaving it up to her imagination.

**_Just call. It’s better to have an idea of a situation over none at all._ ** Dillion spoke up, though remained in Juno’s head.  **_We wouldn’t be walking in blind. Not completely._ **

“How about after a rest? I’ll have more energy for the connection.” Juno spoke aloud. She placed the crystal back around her neck and laid down. Though it took Juno a while to settle in, she drifted off almost immediately. 

When she woke next, there was only the soft sounds of rain falling from the trees. It no longer hammered down upon the oilskin. Sunlight still poked through the trees. Juno sat up, a moment for herself before Dillion stirred as well. She began working on the the bedroll, but Dillion clearing her throat made her stop.

**_Time to call~_ ** she sang it to Juno and pulled a laugh from her lips. It helped ease the tension in her chest.  **_It’s gonna be fine, I can guarantee you._ **

“You can’t, but it’s appreciated.” Juno sat on the partially rolled bedroll and grabbed the crystal again. She remembered what Sam had taught her, that it took immense concentration until the other individual connected, then it was a shared concentration. Juno held it with both of her hands, and began her focus. Right now, she was glad she allowed herself to rest first, it would’ve been too difficult.

It took a few moments, but eventually Juno felt at ease. A moment more, and she heard Rae’s voice.

“Juno?? Is that you??” She sounded like she was right next to Juno, and her voice almost brought tears to her eyes. It was unbelievable how much she missed her voice. 

“Yes. Yes, love, it’s me.” Juno pressed the crystal to the center of her forehead, thankful these were invented. Strange? Of course. But useful? Absolutely. “H… how are things?” her voice shook, unsure exactly of what to say.

“Things are okay. We’ve just been waiting for you to arrive, we’ve-- I’ve been worried.” Rae’s voice had softened with concern and Juno smiled at it.

“Yeah, yeah things have been okay. I just had to take a longer-- I had to get off the road. Too many people were on it for me to reach the camp comfortably.” she ran her thumb over the crystal and sighed. “I should be there later today.” Juno peered out from the cover, up at the sky. “I wouldn’t have finished the trip in the rain. Dillion insisted I stop.”   


“As she does.” Rae chuckled. “I’m glad to hear you’re safe. We’ll be seeing you soon?”

“Sooner rather than later… I just have to--” Juno paused when she heard the cracking of a branch. Her attention was taken from the sky to the wood. Her eyes scanned while her heartbeat picked up.

“Juno?” Rae called. Juno replied with a hush and began to stand. She waited and focused on the sounds around her, listened to what it might have been and could be. When there wasn’t another sign or sound, Juno cautiously sat again. But that didn’t mean she let her guard down.

“I thought--” Just as she began to speak, something crashed through the top of the oilskin and landed on top of her. It slammed her to the ground and knocked the crystal away. She tried to turn onto her stomach, to grab the crystal, but the creature’s knotted fingers dug into her back and dragged her back. She heard, just barely, Rae call her name. Juno tried again, ignoring the claws that dug into her skin. Rather than drag her back, the palm smashed the crystal into the rock. When it lifted, she saw it shattered, along with any hope of calling for help.

Juno used her free hand to grab the blade on her hip. Once it rolled her onto her back, Juno sliced. She wasn’t sure what she was fighting, so she wasn’t completely sure of what she hit, but it was enough to get the creature to screech in pain. Juno scrambled out from under it, and reached back. She was looking for a bow, but was grasping at air. She silently cursed herself for not having brought her bow. Anonymity was more important than safety apparently.

By the time Juno realized all she had to arm herself was a dagger, was the time the creature had dealt with its pain. Both watched the other. The closer she looked, the more she realized this was a mortal being, dripping in Corruption. Their form had grown distorted, long, and abnormal. Their fingers looked as sharp as daggers, mouth twisted with jagged teeth that opened far too wide to be normal. Juno paled at this. It normally took more than one person to take one of these down, all armed with more than just a dagger.

“Dillion.” Juno called. 

**_I see it._ ** She responded.  **_Magic will help._ **

Juno placed the dagger back into her sheath just before the creature lunged for her. A palm of fire was buried into its chest, but Juno was still slammed down. It hopped off of her and lunged again, too quickly for Juno’s head to clear of its haze. Its mouth closed around her shoulder and dug its teeth deep into her skin. She screamed and wrapped her hands around its head. Ice began to form and crystallize. It dug into its skin, black blood seeping from the wounds. As a response one of the creature’s fingers buried themselves into Juno’s forearm. She watched as she saw them go in one end and out the other. Painfully, one of her hands was pulled from its head. 

Juno sucked in a breath as tears began to fill her eyes. She felt the creature’s other hand wrap around the only hand she had left to defend herself. Though she fought and was able to keep a hand on its head for a while, Juno felt its nails begin to dig in. She could feel them moving deeper through her skin, and soon both of her hands would be useless. She decided her drop her hand from its head. While it caused her more pain, and gave the creature a deeper bite, she was able to grab the dagger on her hip. She swung it back and buried it into the creature’s shoulder. She buried it so deeply she was sure she felt the hilt touch skin. It was enough to cause the creature to recoil, pull away with a deafening screech. It’s hands tore from her skin, leaving bright red streaks.

Juno scrambled away, her hand held over the profusely bleeding wound. She could already feel the blood seeping through her clothes, she could already feel weaker. Juno blinked hard as she watched the creature rip the blade from its flesh, stare at the blade, and toss it aside. It would pounce again. Juno wasn’t sure she’d be able to fight it off this time.

“Dillion…” Juno drowsily called. She prayed the Goddess heard her, she needed the help this time. She felt Dillion grow alert, more active.

**_Juno--_ ** Dillion saw the situation and felt Juno’s strength draining yet again.  **_What is it you need?_ **

“Assistance.” As the creature lunged, Dillion was there to easily slam it to the ground.

**“Go, Juno.”** Dillion held the monster down, easily ignoring its claws scratching her skin. Juno took no time to question or dispute her words. She stumbled over rock and root alike, having to catch herself more than once. Her eyesight began to blur the further she went and her feet began to feel like stone. Just as she thought she was clear of the creature, she felt something sharp on her back. Juno was sent down to the ground, so fast she couldn’t put her arms out to stop her head from cracking against rock. Rather than blurry eyesight, it all went white, then black, then color began to ebb in once more.

The last thing she saw was Dillion fight the creature, then darkness. When her vision returned, Dillion’s hand was on her shoulder, giving her a shake. Perhaps she was calling her name, but Juno heard nothing. She tried to speak, to say something to her, but her vision turned black once again.

When Juno found consciousness once again night had fallen upon the forest. Her eyelids felt heavy and sticky, wanting to stay shut. Her body felt like rocks and it felt like she had the sky on her back when she sat up. Her arms shook, but eventually Juno was up. She sat for a moment, her breath heavy. She felt like death. 

“Dillion?” Juno croaked, her throat dry. She waited for a moment then a moment more. “Dillion are you there?” she tried again. But when Dillion didn’t respond, Juno assumed she was resting after the fight. With a single moment more to prepare herself, Juno began walking. It wasn’t as easy as she’d hoped it was, but at least she was able to move. And as she moved, she felt an ebbing pain begin to grow in her forearm, specifically in the place she took Jo’s corruption. The pain in her back grew beyond the pain of claw marks. It hurt specifically in the places she’d taken on corruption of her own. Pains like this hadn’t come in a long time.

The entire time on her travel, she reached out to Dillion. It usually took her no longer than a few hours to hear her again. Unless Dillion used all her power, then it took much longer. Juno felt a storm of fear brew in her chest. With the growing pains from the corruption and the lack of communication from Dillion, the fear grew with each step she took.

Eventually, Juno saw light. Not light from the sun, but light from torches. Torches staked in the ground and torches being held by guards making rounds. She was drawn to it, like a moth to a flame, unsure of who exactly would be there. She had no time to worry. She was losing too much blood to worry. When she reached the outskirts, one torch had become several. Her mind was flooded with the fog of blood loss and the mist of pain. Suddenly there was a sharp pain throughout her entire body, that carried from the center of her body, to the base of her skull. She fell to one of her knees then tried to stand and collapsed completely. She heard others calling for help and heard the stomping of boots coming in her direction.

She recognized one voice out of the crowd.

“Juno…” it was Rae, by her side, hand on her hand. “Goddesses, Juno…” her eyes looked over Juno’s entire body, taking in the damage. Juno tried to reach a hand up to Rae’s chest, but found another bolt of pain shoot through her core once again. She screamed, her back arched in unbelievable pain. Rae moved her hands to either side of Juno’s face. The corruption on her arm pulsated and Rae’s eyes widened.

“Dillion…” Juno managed to spit out, her eyes shut. “She’s…” Juno’s hands shook as tears fell from her eyes. “I can’t hear her…”

**Author's Note:**

> The first bingo slot done for Bad Things Happen Bingo. This is a drabble featuring my OC, Juno Edwards, Dillion, and my girlfriend's OC Rae Mori.
> 
> If you have any questions, please ask! I realize you're being thrown into this so it might be a little confusing


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